EU Sets Deadline for In-Car Emergency-Call Capability

BRUSSELS – The European Parliament votes to implement by 2017 a mandatory system to automatically handle emergency calls sent by cars in case of a crash.

The action was negotiated in March between national government and the European Commission, the European Union’s executive body. The endorsement by Parliament, which represents citizens of the EU, precedes elections on May 22-25.

This week’s vote means all 28 EU countries will need to have infrastructure to receive and handle so-called eCalls in emergency call-response centers no later than Oct. 1, 2017. Technical rules saying how cars and light vans should interact with this system would start taking effect as early as six months after this date.

But a regulation detailing the system’s technical requirements still has to be negotiated between the EU institutions. Those negotiations are expected to start once the new European Parliament meets in June.

The decision will see the eCall system implemented two years later than originally proposed by the EC. When it proposed two draft laws regulating the introduction of eCall last June, the commission wanted to see it introduced by October 2015, a timeline many considered very ambitious.

“I am happy that we found an agreement so that member states will be obligated to update their infrastructure to the new eCall system, which will be installed in all new European cars,” says Parliament member Philippe De Backer of Belgium, who was in charge of managing the infrastructure regulation during review by Parliament.

The system to handle eCalls will be built by upgrading existing public-safety answering points, which are call centers handling emergency phone calls requiring police, ambulance or firefighters’ response – the European 911.

Cost to Vary by Country

Costs of the upgrade will vary among EU countries depending on the number of call centers and the state of their equipment, Gilles Carabin, EC policy officer-intelligent transport systems, tells WardsAuto. It could total €650,000 ($897,000) for Romania or €200,000 ($276,000) for the Czech Republic. In the U.K., ongoing maintenance costs are estimated at €48,000 ($66,000) per year.

The ACEA, the European automakers group, welcomes the deadline for having the infrastructure in place before vehicles fitted with emergency-calling capabilities hit the road.

“From the industry's side the technology is ready, so once the technical requirements are finalized it would require a lead time of 36 months to sufficiently develop and test the systems before they are implemented,” ACEA spokeswoman Cara McLaughlin tells WardsAuto.

The date by which vehicles should be ready to automatically make emergency calls will become clearer once the EU institutions agree on technical regulations. Once in place, the eCall system is expected to speed the response times of emergency services 40% in cities and 50% in rural areas, according to EC estimates.

“The eCall system will change mobility in a good way,” De Backer says. “Emergency services will be faster at the place of the accident so victims will be treated sooner, the safety of everybody on the road will increase and traffic jams will dissolve faster."

However, the European Association of Automotive Suppliers suggests motorists be allowed to choose between independent operators willing to offer additional services and applications once the system is implemented.

“It is difficult to accept road deaths and injuries when effective safety technologies are available at affordable prices,” association CEO Jean-Marc Gales says.